Crear is the new show at Progressive Grounds featuring the works of Caitlin Moorleghen, Will Grogan, Maxx Newman and Simon Wolf. The four, having decided to form a collective, have pooled their works together to create a jigsaw across the walls without delineation or demarcation of their works. Photography, print media, painting and drawing combine here with horizontal lines of paint-peeling wood, forming an intriguing installation in the back corner of the cafe. Looking closely reveals a Joseph Cornel like construction of a wolf in a white painted box, an oddly calming photo of a bathroom scene involving a naked torso and an electric razor, miniature architectural drawings as well as larger, bold, monochromatic prints, stacked and spread along the Bryant and 21st Street walls. The show at its core is the simple and humble act of displaying the creative efforts of the collective. The individual pieces were not made with a theme in mind nor in connection to one another. The relevancy between the works arises through the friendship of the four as well their attendance at San Francisco Art Institute, as Newman, Wolf and Grogan are all students there. Their familiarity with each other’s style and existing body of work was then crucial as whilst there wasn’t a conscious line to tread in choosing pieces for this show, each were aware in a general sense how their works would fit together. Thus the true collaboration arose through their mode of display, which was highly considered and meticulously achieved through the organic process of trial and error. Taking upwards of four hours and subsequent returns to the café to fix any double-sided tape, corner curling issues, Moorleghen, Newman, Wolf and Grogan have shown themselves to not only be aware of their own creative process but also the experience that can be facilitated through the curation of a show. This traces along the walls in a mix of frames and unframed works, colour and black and white images, abstract and figurative pieces, broadly contained by the horizontally orientated fragments of scrap wood. Similar to the simplicity in impetus, the name of the show, Crear, the Spanish verb ‘to create’, is basically a nod to the Hispanic community of the Mission district. Like many living in San Francisco, none of the collective are native to the city, however as residents and with three of the four residing in the Mission neighbourhood, it is a conscious effort to recognise the history and culture in which they live. As Grogan puts it, “We are the aliens here.” This awareness is reiterated in their artists’ statement, explaining, “as we are transplants to this great city, we feel obliged to inspire and be inspired by all that is around us.”<CONTINUE READING, which includes additional photos of the installation>

CREAR is up through April 4, 2013 at Progressive Grounds Mission District located at 2301 Bryant St, SF.

UP NEXT: At - Into - Through by cxBost

On Wednesday night, I headed back into the cafe on my day off to witness the installation of CREAR, a collaborative installation by Simon Wolf, Will Grogan, Maxx Newman, and Caitlin Moorleghen. I was a wee bit tired and seeing everything through a haze. In fact, that haze was captured by the slow shutter of my camera.

As I looked back through the photos, they capture the essence of the show: obscuring origins as a means to reveal. I hope these photos reveal the process of the installation and not the art itself.

You can catch the works of Simon, Will, Maxx, and Caitlin at Progressive Grounds Mission District (2301 Bryant Street, SF) from now until April 3.

About the Blog

The 14 Black Poppies Blog is the place to find creative works, personal reflections, articles and various arts and wellness sundries that either inspire or are created by co-founders Jason Wyman and Margaret Bacon Schulze.